Reconciliation (Col. 1:19-20)

This sermon was preached on Sunday 26/12/2010

In our previous study we considered the deity of Jesus as expressed in the words of Paul in Colossians 1:19: ‘For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.’ Paul then links this reference to the prospect of reconciliation, both on a universal scale (v. 20) and locally with regard to the group of believers in Colosse (vv. 21-23). I suppose we could liken the universal reconciliation to the cessation of hostilities between two nations and the local reconciliation to the effects the national peace has on a small community within either country. The small community could not have peace before the national reconciliation was made; yet it was also possible for that small community not to experience the benefits of the national reconciliation by failing to appreciate what was involved in it and required of them.

Universal reconciliation (v. 20)

The reason why Jesus came into our world was to function as the achiever of reconciliation. Of course, reconciliation is required only in situations where there are divisions, separations and hostilities. Paul identifies these situations as on earth or in heaven before pointing out the strategy adopted by God which was for Jesus to make peace by the blood of his cross.

What does Paul mean by the all things that will be reconciled through Jesus? The apostle does not mean everything in the universe. For example, he does not have in mind warring earthly factions who sign a peace treaty. Such countries may have agreed to stop fighting, bur may retail an inner hostility to their previous foes. Reconciliation is more than the absence of conflict, it includes the restoration of fellowship. Nor does he mean that fallen angels and impenitent sinners will be reconciled – elsewhere he makes clear that they will not.

The all things is probably a reference to the physical universe, as Paul clearly teaches in Romans 8. The creation has been adversely affected by the fall of humanity, but it will share in the restoration procured by Jesus. There is a sense in which the creation is opposed to man, it is a dangerous place for him, with death and other troubles always an ongoing possibility. But the environment will yet be peaceful for ever.

It is straightforward to identify the ones on earth who were opposed to God – they were human rebels who had revolted against the lordship of God and then lived in a spirit of antagonism towards him. But who are those in heaven who had to be reconciled with sinful humans? Is Paul referring to the holy angels? We could see how they would be opposed to the sinful human race – they had been used by God many times as his instruments of judgement such as on Sodom and Gomorrah or on the invading army of Syrians that had attacked Israel. But they only exercised that power when God gave them authority to do so. So perhaps it is better to say that the heavenly creatures experience reconciliation in the sense that, because of Christ‘s death, they will never again be separated from redeemed humans by their sins.

It is important to remember that both God and sinners had to be reconciled to one another. In order to appreciate this aspect, we must ask, How did humans and God express their opposition to one another? The humans did so by rebelling against God’s rule and God did so by placing the rebels under present and future judgement, the expressions of his wrath. The present judgement includes banishment from his kingdom and the sentence of death and the future judgement involves eternal punishment in a lost eternity.

How did Jesus bring the opposing parties together? He was the eternal God, the divine Son of the heavenly Father, equal with him in power and glory. The first step was him becoming what he had not been (truly man) without ceasing to be what he had always been (fully God). This he did at his incarnation which we think about in a focussed way at this time of year. It is interesting to observe the actions of the heavenly army of God, the host of angels, when this took place. Turn to Luke 2:8-14: ‘And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”’ It is very clear that one element of their song was the prospect of reconciliation between their God and his rebellious human creatures.

The second step was for Jesus to undergo the punishment that the human rebels would have suffered. We noted earlier that it included banishment from God, the experience of death, and the reality of eternal punishment. Paul includes these aspects in his phrase about Jesus. ‘by the blood of his cross.’ The cross was the symbol of banishment (it meant that the victim had been cast out of human society), blood show the reality of his death, and he experienced banishment and death because he was making peace by bearing the fullness of the divine penalty of eternal judgement. When this happened he achieved reconciliation between God and man.

It is important to note that reconciliation was achieved, not merely made possible. So when we say that this was a universal reconciliation we do not mean that God and every human will be reconciled to one another. The humans for whom Jesus made reconciliation on the cross will be the ones who will respond to the gospel message, whether they lived before Jesus suffered or after he suffered. And among them were the members of the church in Colosse.

Local reconciliation

Paul describes their state of enmity to God, then their state of reconciliation with God by Jesus, and then their future presentation by Jesus to God.

Their state of enmity is expressed in verse 21: ‘And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.’ Their rebellion was intentional (deliberate) and rational (it was not accidental, but thought through with intense opposition to God). How can Paul say this about them? He could make this accurate assessment because he knew that God’s law is written on the heart of each person. Everyone knows the difference between right and wrong, but they choose to do wrong because they want to. It is possible to devise all kinds of terminology to try and hide this reality: we can call some wrong actions by the words ‘freedom of expression’ or ‘lifestyle choices’ or ‘private interests’, but such terminology does not mean they have avoided approving of wrong actions. The Colossian Christians had been guilty of ignoring their inbuilt, God-planted awareness of right and wrong attitudes and behaviour.

Their state of reconciliation is described in the first clause of verse 22: ‘he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death.’ Paul reminds them that Jesus had come to them and brought them into this wonderful situation in which they and God were in a relationship of peace. The apostle stresses the reality of the Saviour’s humanity – he had a body of flesh in which he suffered.

The future presentation by Jesus is detailed in the second clause of verse 22: ‘in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.’ This is not a reference to progressive sanctification because no matter how sanctified a person can become in this life, he still falls far short of perfection. Instead this refers to the great change that comes upon all Christians when Jesus returns and they are transformed into his likeness inwardly and physically. It is true that the souls of believers who have died are perfect in holiness and glorified, yet the New Testament does not say that such a wonderful experience is the ultimate one. In addition, their bodies must be involved in this presentation.

A matter that is connected to glorification is the possibility of degrees of glory, whether or not some individuals will have more glory than others. It is true that the length given to all is the same (eternal), and it is also true that each individual will always have what he or she will be capable of having (each will be always full of glory). Yet Jesus, in his parable of the talents indicates that there will be degrees of responsibility, with one person having ten cities and another person five cities. Another indicator of degrees is the variety of crowns given to the redeemed – for example, there is a martyr’s crown which can only be given to those who were martyred for Jesus, and there is a special crown that will be given to elders who have shown care for God’s flock (1 Pet. 5:1-4).

These verses are not teaching that believers earn glory. Nevertheless they indicate that there is a link between how they use the grace they have been given in this life and the amount of glory they will experience. We can summarise the grace as gifts, opportunities and personal spiritual growth. Gifts are God’s sovereign bestowal, but one reason we have the spiritual gifts we were given is to use them for eternal glory (not in the sense of obtaining merit, but of pleasing God who then greatly blesses those who used such talents in serving him). Opportunities are God-arranged occasions in which we can serve him according to the gifts we have – I suspect such opportunities occur often. Yet we will misuse the gifts and the opportunities if we are not growing in grace, and such misuse will result in a reduced amount of glory in the sense that we will have a lower capacity than we could have had. We have all met persons in daily life with gifts and opportunities but who have not shown much interest in using them aright. A similar scenario happens in the Christian life.

We can summarise by saying that the presentation will involve forgiven saints (all their wrong thoughts, words and actions will be pardoned), perfected saints (they will be holy in each area of life), glorified saints (which includes capacity for greater service because limitations of our current physicality, such as tiredness, will no longer prevent our service), satisfied saints (each will be full of God), and rewarded saints (their level of service there will be linked to their gracious service here).

The responsibility (v. 23)

Having highlighted such matters, Paul turns and addresses the Colossians about the required response which they must make. He makes it clear that they must persevere. Elsewhere he uses the illustration of athletes persevering in a race to depict this point. Here he uses the illustration of a building that is stable because it has a good foundation; however if the foundation is weakened, the building will shift and collapse. The spiritual foundation is the gospel of Jesus and here Paul stresses its future benefits (hope usually refers to what one anticipates). The Colossians were in danger of losing that future perspective because they were taking their eyes of Christ and not maintaining dedication to him. Paul points out that there is only one gospel, although many preachers. The biggest danger to Christian progress is not from the opposition; instead it is from moving away from Jesus, his saving work, and his promises.